Why did Iga Swiatek receive a one-month doping ban? What did she test positive for?

File image of Polish player Iga Swiatek serving at the Billie Jean King Cup | Photo credit: AP

After Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek is the second high-profile tennis player to test positive for a banned substance this year. While Sinner, currently No. 1 in the rankings, was fully cleared, Swiatek, who slipped from No. 1 to No. 2 last month, accepted a one-month ban, which was announced on Thursday (November 28, 2024).

The International Tennis Integrity Agency said it had concluded that Swiatek’s contaminated urine sample was due to a contaminated medication she had taken and that she therefore bore a small degree of responsibility.

“These are not cases of intentional doping. These are cases – in Sinner’s case… no fault or negligence. “In the (Swiatek) case, the outcome is very minor, no significant error or negligence,” ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse said in a video call with reporters. “So I don’t think this is a concern for tennis fans and the like.”

Here’s a look at the details of the two cases:

Who is Iga Swiatek?

Swiatek is a 23-year-old Polish woman with five Grand Slam titles who has been the best player in women’s tennis, particularly on clay courts, for the past two and a half seasons. She has won four of the last five French Open titles, including the last three in a row, as well as a US Open championship, and has been ranked No. 1 almost every week since April 2022. Swiatek also won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics Beginning of August.

Swiatek’s urine showed low levels of trimetazidine, a banned heart drug commonly referred to as TMZ, in an out-of-competition test on August 12, 10 days after her final match at the Summer Games and just before the start of the Cincinnati Open. She was informed she was being provisionally suspended on September 12, eight days after losing to Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals of the US Open.

TMZ was found to have contaminated a sleeping pill, melatonin, that Swiatek’s psychologist had purchased for her at a pharmacy in Poland, where it is sold as a medication. According to the ITIA report, Swiatek listed 14 medications or supplements she took, but not melatonin.

What is trimetazidine?

According to the European Medicines Agency, trimetazidine is a metabolic drug that can prevent angina attacks when used as an “add-on treatment.” It can increase blood flow efficiency and improve endurance – both of which are crucial for peak athletic performance. It is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list in the “hormone and metabolic modulators” category. The substance has been used in cases involving previous Olympic athletes, involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva and 23 Chinese swimmers.

Swiatek received an interim ban that began in September after the US Open, but it was lifted because she quickly provided a credible explanation for the infection – one that was backed up by testing, the ITIA said. She missed three tournaments during the Asian Swing following the US Open, although she did not reveal the real reason for her absence at the time.

Eventually, the ITIA and Swiatek agreed that she would serve a one-month ban; Because she was credited for the time she had already missed, she still had eight days of a “one-month” sentence remaining, so she is now “serving” it even though the season is over.

Swiatek was able to take part in the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup. “The worst part was the uncertainty,” she said. “I didn’t know what would happen next with my career, how it would end or whether I would even be allowed to play tennis.”

Sinner tested positive twice for a banned anabolic steroid in March, but nothing came to light until August, just before the US Open, which he won for his second Grand Slam title in 2024.

As with Swiatek, the cases were kept secret until they were solved because both actors provided what ITIA considered plausible explanations. He blamed it on a cream that his trainer had used before Sinner’s massage and was therefore completely acquitted – although WADA is appealing this verdict – while Swiatek was “at the bottom end of the scale without any significant fault or negligence”. . and so a light punishment was imposed on him.

Asked whether there are specific guidelines determining the length of suspensions in such cases, Moorhouse replied: “No, there are not. This isn’t the point where you put these things into the machine and it spits out a number at the end. It’s about weighing everything up, taking into account all the circumstances and facts of the case in order to come to the right result.”